One of the best values of the 1997 Draft was Brian Campbell, a Defenseman who the Buffalo Sabres took in the Sixth Round.

A pair of Second Round picks brought Germany’s Jordan Hecht to the Buffalo Sabres, and for ten seasons (2002-03 to 2012-13), he provided clean and solid two-way hockey.

Drew Stafford was a star at the University of North Dakota, and he left early to join the Buffalo Sabres, the team that took him 13^th Overall in 2004.

Since the Soviet Union has not existed for decades, the record for most games played by a Soviet-born Defenseman (1,085) will never be broken.  Alexei Zhitnik is that record holder, and 712 of those games were as a Buffalo Sabre.

Jim Schoenfeld was a physical defenseman who was unafraid to take on the role of enforcer when needed.

From Russia, Maxim Afinogenov proved to be a pretty sweet choice for the Buffalo Sabres, who grabbed him in the Third Round in 1997.

Beginning his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, John Van Boxmeer was exiled to the then-hockey wasteland of the Colorado Rockies.  A reprieve came for Van Boxmeer when he was traded before the 1979-80 Season for Rene Robert, and the Defenseman became a Buffalo Sabre, which is where he had the best stats of his career.

Rob Ray was not expected to score much.  What he was asked to do was to use his fists and his intimidation to allow his teammates a clear path to light the lamp.

Richard Smehlik had a good first two seasons in the National Hockey League, where the Czech blueliner scored 72 Points.  A knee injury took him out of half of the 1994-95 season and the entire 1995-96 season, but he returned, albeit with less of an offensive touch.

Before Jocelyn Guevremont became a Sabre, he was an All-Star with the Vancouver Canucks and was on Team Canada for their 1972 Summit Series win.  The Defenseman might not have been an All-Star with the Sabres, but he arguably had his best NHL years in Western New York.

Doug Bodger was a 16-year veteran of the NHL, whose second team was the Buffalo Sabres, who acquired him in the transaction that sent Goalie Tom Barrasso to Pittsburgh.

Bob Sauve was drafted in the First Round of the 1975 Draft by the Buffalo Sabres, who also took another Goalie, Don Edwards, in that year's selection process.  After playing mostly in the minors for three years, Sauve made the main roster for good in 1978-79.

Mike Foligno was the runner-up for the 1980 Calder to Ray Bourque, but two years later, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres from Detroit, and he brought his signature “Foligno Leap” with him.

There have been many phenomenal American Goalies in Hockey, but it can be argued that none of them got off to a better start than Tom Barrasso.

Taken early in the Second Round of the 2001 Draft, Derek Roy had a streaky career in the minors, which prevented him from becoming a fixture in the Sabres until the 2005-06 season, where he had 46 Points.  Roy came into his own afterward, scoring at least 60 Points in four consecutive seasons (2006-07 to 2009-10), which included an 81 Point year in 2007-08.

After playing a minor role for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres acquired Don Luce, who found a role with his defensive skills from the Center position.

Taken in the Third Round of the 1971 Draft, Defenseman Bill Hajt would play his entire career with the team that took him, the Buffalo Sabres.

Beginning his career with the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks, Defenseman Jerry Korab was traded to the Buffalo Sabres during the 1973-74 Season.

Drafted in the middle of the 1975 Draft, Goalie Don Edwards first made the Sabres roster in the 1976-77 Season, where he played in 25 Games.  The next season, Edwards was the top guy in between the pipes for Buffalo and was emerging in the upper-tier of Goalies.  That year, Edwards led the NHL in Wins (38), Minutes Played (4,206), Goalie Point Shares (15.3), and he was a Second Team All-Star finishing fourth in Hart voting.

The Buffalo Sabres got great value out of their Ninth Round Pick of the 1989 Draft, Donald Audette, whose grit not only earned him onto the parent club but a spot for years as mid-line Right Wing.